One Lifetime
by sleepykit
Summary: A wish come true. There is a hint of yaoi, so if you're not into that, you may not want to read this. Read and review it, please.


**D N Angel and all its characters do not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. Sandy's mine, though. I've always wanted a younger sister with mythical powers... Now just to write in a cyber geek for a husband, and presto, my perfect world. (That was off topic...) **

Just briefly, this story happens three to four years after the end of the anime, with the notion in mind that a great deal has changed. Theoretically, everyone is around the age of seventeen or eighteen (save the obvious people of course). I'm still watching the show, so I have no idea about all the details. All I know is that Dark does eventually return to the painting from where he came, and no need to spoil it for me. From there, it's all creative license and a ghost of a chance.

**One Lifetime**

Dai sighed and looked at the mirror a little sadly. "Guess this wasn't our day."

The mirror's frame was made of pure gold, and it carried some of the most beautiful carvings on it. The mirror itself used to shine and even glow a little, but now it was cracked. Jagged lines extended from a circular center hole out in all directions. A single touch and the mirror would fall apart and break into so many shards. Dai's reflection within the glass looked deformed and broken up in puzzle pieces.

"_I wonder if Krad succeeded,"_ Dark said from within Dai's mind.

The red-head looked away from the mirror and towards a window on the front wall. "I hope so because he needed it more than we ever could."

"_They both did,"_ Dark confirmed.

Turning away, Dai slowly made his way to the stairs, looking at the floor. The mirror had been a chance for both of them to lead their own lives, but he knew that while he and Dark were friends and more than that, Krad and his tamer had trouble dealing with each other. If ever two people needed to be apart, it was Krad and Satoshi. Dai was about to step onto the first stair when he heard a loud bang behind him.

Spinning, he turned to look at the now glowing mirror. It rose before his eyes and floated in midair, spinning slowly on its axis. For a moment it stopped and a woman stepped out of it, her skin pale. Long, green hair covered him fro head to past her knees, and she seemed to be swimming in it. Bright, blue eyes regarded Dai evenly as the woman smiled at him and stepped closer.

"Who are you?" Dai asked softly.

The woman pointed to the mirror with a flick of a hand. "I grant people's wishes. Do you have a wish, Dai?"

And Dai nodded because he did. "I want Dark to be happy."

"Why?" the woman asked as she finally stopped not more than ten feet before the shorter boy. "Why is he so important to you?"

Smiling Dai answered, "Because the members of my family have all lived normal, happy lives in the end. Dark hasn't."

"_You really should ask for something more useful,"_ Dark whispered into Dai's mind.

Ignoring that, Dai looked at the woman and shrugged, not sure what to think or say. "Krad, too, and Satoshi, they need your wish more than we do."

The woman smiled and replied, "They have already been here. So need to worry about either of them. As for you…"

Dai stayed silent and so heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Moving away from the stairwell, he scooted closer to the wall and watched Krad walked into the large attic, wings outspread. The angel looked downright pissed. Satoshi followed him in, the blue haired boy looking more than a little intimidated. Dai wondered what had had happened between the two of them when Krad started to speak.

"Sorry Dai, but no wishes for you today," the angel proclaimed as he fired a bolt of lightning at the boy.

Dai ducked and rolled away from the blast, not sure what was going on. "What's your problem, Krad? Yesterday you said you didn't even care and today you're going insane?"

"_We should switch," _Dark said softly. _"Krad is very dangerous when he's like this."_

Dai replied without actually speaking. _"Wait. Krad is mad at me now, not you. Plus, you're exhausted, so rest."_

He ducked again and this time after rising, attacked Krad with a rusty broom handle. Krad easily knocked him off course, and Dai smashed up against a wall. Sliding downwards, he landed on the floor and looked up at Krad with those dark eyes, wondering what was making the angel so angry. Satoshi looked even more terrified, if that was physically possible, and the woman from the mirror had a neutrally black look on her face.

"Dark not coming to save you?" Krad sneered.

Dai rose and looked straight at Krad. "What happened to Satoshi?"

"Apparently he wanted to be rid of me, now that we're not together anymore," the blond-haired angel replied. "Doesn't work so easily, my dear, does it? Dark knows what I mean, doesn't he?"

Satoshi nearly dived past Krad and stood beside the mirror, looking into it sadly. Dai wondered what he saw in there, but whatever it was, it bothered him a great deal. Dai relaxed a little and picked up an antique sword. Wielding it with obvious knowledge of how, the eighteen-year-old lunged at Krad with all his might.

The sword reached through Krad's defenses, propelled by Dai's anger and will. Even Dark was surprised when blood splattered all over Krad's white clothes. Dai sprang back fearfully, hands shaking, and looked at Satoshi, not believing the angry, hateful expression on the blue-haired boy's face. He had never anything like this before. Satoshi must've really disliked Krad to be acting like this.

"Satoshi?" Dai whispered, but the other boy didn't respond.

Krad grasped the sword and tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. Almost as if in slow motion, he collapsed straight onto the sword and lay there, chest raised slightly off the ground by the hilt. Blood seeped all over the wooden floor , and Dai watched it as if in a daze, pretty certain that it was for real. Krad, a man from a painting come to life, sealed, and then reborn again, was now officially and very dead. Krad seemed to melt away and the vanish completely, leaving behind a bloody puddle.

Satoshi shrugged. "He's back in that painting. For good, I hope."

Dai examined the sword tip sticking out from Krad's back. "As long as we can prevent it from happening again."

The woman walked over to Dai and smiled at him. "You wish, sir?"

Dai whispered to Dark, _"What should it be? What should we wish for?"_

And Dark could only smile. _"Let it be one lifetime together and then the end. Death can wait a lifetime if there is a reason to live."_

And the woman replied, "As you wish, Dark Mousey. Just remember, there are a lot of things you still have to say to Dai if you want this lifetime to be a happy one."

There was a flash of bright, green light and then Dai was on the floor, right next to the phantom thief. The two looked at each other, both real for the first time and at the same time, and grinned. There'd be troubles to face in the future, but for now, the hardest of them all had been surpassed. Dark sighed, feeling as weak as a newborn, but within moments Dai was there, cradling the thief's head in his lap.

"How'd this ever happen?" he asked Dark.

The thief smiled and replied softly, "Magic. Sheer magic."

Satoshi walked over and sat beside Dark, looking between thief and tamer uncertainly. "I think that was the way the curse was supposed to end. But only my long dead ancestor would know the real answer to that one."

"I, for one, do not want to ask him," Dai answered with a wide grin.

--- A Few Weeks Before: ---

It had been nearly three years since Dark and Krad were sealed back into the painting from whence they'd come, and so far all seemed to go well. Dai's mother, Emiko, had decided that she wanted more children, and on that particular stormy night, Dai was stuck baby sitting his two year old sister. The girl was nothing if not a nuisance, but he loved being a big brother and he didn't mind letting the child wander about his room while he painted.

Most of Dai's paintings had Dark in them somehow, but always the thief was happy and smiling. Even though Dai could never forget the look on his friends face just before they were torn apart, he still preferred to think that Dark was happy now. Right then, though, Dai had no time to think about thieves. His little system was trouble enough.

"Sandy, come back," he called to the blond little child and chased after her.

The girl toddled her way down the stairs, past the kitchen, and into the chamber reserved for the family magic. Dai had no idea how she had opened the door, but Sandy seemed truly unique that way. Walking behind her, Dai was surprised to find the fire still going and all of the family tools hung neatly up on the walls.

"I thought they locked this when they were done," he muttered as he finally picked up the child.

Grinning, the girl said, "Dark!"

"It's not that dark in here," Dai said softly. "Not the way it is at night when we watch the rain fall."

The girl pointed, and when Dai looked at where she was pointing, he saw Dark right there in the fire. Lavender eyes looked back at Dai with a hint of pleading in them, something the red-head couldn't really understand. Blinking, he turned to look at Sandy and then back at Dark. How had she known of all people?

He stepped forward and reached into the flames, not caring if it burned his hand. Sandy remained still, not touching the flames but watching with intelligent eyes. She really didn't act like a two-year-old by any means of the imagination. As she watched, Dark and Daisuke seemed to merge until only Dai was left standing there, looking at his hand uncertainly. The girl giggled.

"Dark!"

"_Dai, you okay?"_ Dark asked softly.

Dai nodded and grinned. _"You have no idea…Or maybe you do…"_

Dark smiled and said, _"Just glad to be out of that place. Krad's probably free, too, and he's out for revenge, as usual."_

"_Where were you?" _Dai asked.

"_Hell."_

Sandy giggled again and pointed to the door. "Nappy time. Me sleepy."

Dai grinned widely and took the girl back to her bedroom. Unlike him, she would live a normal life, given the chance to be as normal as possible given the crazy family she'd been born into. Thunder struck outside as he tucked Sandy into her bed and closed the door. She closed her eyes and slept, trusting her big brother not to let the devil through the door. Krad, in the eyes of a child, was a monster worse than any underneath the bed.

Dai walked to the living room and started out the window only to be confronted with Krad's face pressed up against the glass. Dai gasped as he saw the window crack and break, and the sword in Krad's arms, ready to strike. Lighting struck close enough for the thunder to come almost at once. The end seemed terribly close.

The sword flew straight and true. Krad could not be faulted for being good. Blood splattered all over the floor and walls.

* * *

Read and Review. For now, it's going to be a one shot, but if I get more ideas, you'll be the first to know. For some reason, Killing Krad at least once in this story felt really good. 


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